About

I am a social worker. I am an artist. I am a writer. My kids are two cats and two dogs...a lot of my art is related to the human-animal bond because I have found so much joy and laughter in those relationships. I used to work as an editor and communications professional but went back to school to become a therapist and social worker.

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Wednesday, March 29, 2006

Thank you all for all the kind comments about Sadie. I miss her so bad I can't stand it. We decided to give her a place in a local pet cemetery. She thought she was a person, so I had to bury her like one. Gah, I can't talk about it...anyway, thank you all from the bottom of my heart. I wanted to send back a note to each one of you, but I've just not been myself and swamped with work, internship, and stuff at home...read on about that...

Without the drama queen in the house, it was too quiet, too depressing... We knew we were going to get another dog, but it took two to fill emptiness Sadie left behind. Meet 10 month-old Petey (beagle mix) and four month-old Pepper (shepherd mix?). They are our two new lovebugs and our 13 year old gal, Pickles, just loves them. She was awfully despondent after Sadie passed...I think we all were...now she is running and playing.

Petey and Pepper are real characters. Pepper has never been on a leash before and apparently has never been out of a cage much...she is afraid of doorways, stairs and leashes. Petey, who was pulled from the shelter by a rescue just one day before euthanasia, just made himself at home immediately and climbs everything in site like a mountain goat. He'll go to sleep next to you on his back with all fours sticking up in the air and snore like an old man. He's hilarious. They are keeping us very busy--Petey is housetrained, but Pepper isn't yet. Pepper le Pew...

Click on either picture to go to the full collection of photos from their first day with us (except for the last pic which is when I brought Petey to work with me over the weekend--that would be his second day with us...looks pretty comfortable, huh?).

Tuesday, March 21, 2006

We had to say goodbye to our beloved Sadie yesterday afternoon. They couldn't remove any fluid so we couldn't relieve the pressure on her chest. She couldn't breathe and fluid was beginning to collect in her lungs. So, so, sad. At least she was able to pass peacefully--something for which I had prayed very hard. Our other dog is just lost; eating exactly half of her food last night and not touching it this morning. She is searching everywhere for her buddy. We miss her so terribly.

Monday, March 20, 2006

Sadie has gotten much worse over the past 3-4 days. She has a terrible rattling cough and can't do much of anything without instigating a fit. I took her to the vet this morning to get as much fluid out of her belly as possible so she wouldn't have so much pressure on her little chest.

Remarkably, she's still in good spirits, but the constant coughing over the weekend has exhausted her. I just hate to say goodbye to poor little Boo-Boo.

Since the first anniversary of Daddy's death last month, I have really struggled with serious depression, and watching Sadie slowly slip from us doesn't help. I dread adding yet another grieving period to go through, but I don't think it's far away. I just want to crawl under the covers.

But I keep muddling through. I actually did some painting last night for the first time in a while. It helped me keep my mind off things. I have unfinished paintings everywhere. I think I need to concentrate on getting one of them finished and up on Ebay this week...having a sense of accomplishment would do me some good.

Sunday, March 05, 2006

Oh boy, the Iditarod is here! Time to drive dogs to their deaths. The dogs that were "culled" with a bullet to the head throughout the sled dog breeding year were the lucky ones...

Iditarod dog deaths unjustifiable

by George DiazOrlando SentinelMarch 5, 2000

The unofficial death count is 114, though the numbers lie because it isn`t possible to follow all the bloody paw prints of innocent animals that have died in the name of this barbaric "sport."

They have been strangled in towlines, gouged by sleds, suffered liver injury, heart failure, pneumonia and "external myopathy," a condition in which a dog's muscles and organs deteriorate during extreme or prolonged exercise. [more...]

"Culling is a common practice among mushers. The Iditarod mushers breed many dogs, hoping to get a few who will be fast enough to race. According to an article in the Anchorage Daily News, "Killing unwanted sled-dog puppies is part of doing business" (October 6, 1991), most of the mushers cull by shooting their dogs in the head. An animal who is not properly restrained when the musher shoots may suffer an agonizing death. Mushers also cull dogs who are injured in the Iditarod, old but otherwise healthy dogs, or any dog who is not wanted for any reason. Musher Lorraine Temple said, "They (the big racing outfits) can't keep a dog who's a mile an hour too slow" (Currents, Fall, 1999)."